SPOILER ALERT: The Walking Dead mid-season premiere sees Rick on the verge of death as Carl strikes out on his own following prison massacre

The Walking Dead came back to life Sunday night with the fourth mid season premiere showing Rick on the verge of death and his son Carl turning his back on him in his hour of need.

The teenager leaves his injured father trailing behind as the pair escape on foot from the bloody prison ambush, deciding the time has come for him to step up and be treated like a man.

Surly and obnoxious Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) blames Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) for failing to protect the community from the massacre led by The Governor (David Morrissey) in the horrifying last episode before the winter hiatus.

Leading the way: Carl Grimes takes over as his father Rick Grimes is healing from his wounds in the mid-season premiere for The Walking Dead on Sunday night

Despite Rick's attempts to keep his son in line, Carl takes out his gun and insists he now be taken seriously when it comes to zombie slaying.

And the simmering resentment towards his father reaches boiling point after he tackles a group of flesh-eating 'walkers' alone, declaring: 'I win, cool.'As Rick lies lifeless on a sofa in an abandoned home they have taken sanctuary in, he yells at his unconscious dad: 'I killed them, I saved you. I don't need you anymore, I dont need you to protect me anymore.

'You probably can't even protect yourself.'

All alone: Michonne is a parallel plotline in the second half of the fourth season opener

Not in fighting shape: Rick is battered and beaten after his run in with the Governor

He continued: 'They are all gone now because of you, they counted on you, you were their leader but now you are nothing...I'd be fine if you died.'

The hotly-anticipated return of the final eight episodes began where it ended last December with the compound reduced to burning rubble and over-run with flesh-eating 'walkers'.

Devoted fans, who have made the AMC series the most watched cable show ever, have been clammoring for its return to the small screen.

Gone forever: The opening sequence of the show reminds viewers of The Governor's demise

Changing relationship: Rick and Carl must learn to respect each other more as equals

Speaking on The Talking Dead, (http://www.amctv.com/shows/talking-dead) after the winter finale, Andrew

Lincoln promised the second half will be the 'boldest, bravest and most exciting ever.'

With show creator Robert Kirkman adding: 'Not only have these people lost Hershel, they lost the prison, but they also lost each other.

'They’re out on their own, they’re in different groups. There’s going to be a lot going on with these different people as they try to survive in the next half of the season.'

In the first episode of the back eight 'After', the remaining survivors have now been forced to take their chances in the outside world.

Separated and frightened, no-one knows exactly who survived the ambush which saw Hershel (Scott Wilson) beheaded and The Governor finally slayed, although not before beating Rick to a pulp.

Making it out on his own: The young man grows confident in his skillset as a survivor

The heroes journey: Carl faces many challenges on his road to manhood

Could baby Judith be alive despite the discovery of her empty and bloodstained car seat? Rick thinks not.

'She's gone,' he said.

But stood amongst the ruins of the former camp, warrier Michonne ((Danai Gurira) is still fighting.

And she is back to her old tricks taking two 'pets' in the form of armless and jawless zombies which she leads by rope.

She stumbles across the squirming zombified head of Hershel laying in the grass and stabs it through the temple.

Kneeling down, she says her goodbyes and runs her fingers through her old friend's hair.

Eating his reward: Carl ate a tub of pudding after besting a 'walker'

Challenging times: As his father recuperates the boy goes out to find food only to encounter 'walkers' around every corner

Clearly broken from the devastation she had witnessed, she walks off into the woods in a trance, quickly gathering a collection of flesh-eaters trailing behind wanting her for dinner.

Yet she pulls herself together and in typical fashion single-handedly massacres all of them with her trusty sword.

Fans got a glimpse of Michonne's former life with a flashback dream in which it is revealed she once had a young son and a handsome boyfriend named Mike.

But the dream of an idyllic home life quickly turns into a nightmare as images of her world falling apart flash before her eyes.

She and her young family moved into a camp at the onset of the outbreak and start to question the point of life in such miserable surroundings.

Almost comatose: Rick is near death after his bloody ordeal

Getting it out: The father and son re-bond after Carl experiences the world without his father's help

All of a sudden Michonne sees Mike with only bloody stumps for arms.

She wakes up terrified in a car screaming 'no!' but with a steely determination in her eyes, clearly she has decided she wants to live.

As she walks ahead, she sees fresh footprints in the mud and knowing zombies dont leave a trail, she follows them in the hope of meeting up with other survivors.

Meanwhile back at the house with Rick and Carl and an over-confident Carl is having problems with the living dead again.

He is trapped in a bedroom with one and escapes its clutches by the skin of his teeth yet missing a shoe.

Flashback: Michonne is revealed to have been a mother before zombies took over the world

Bouyed further by his survival, he writes in chalk on the door: 'Walker inside. Got my shoe but he didn't get me.'

But later as he wrongly fears his father has turned into a walker, he breaks down unable to kill him.

'I can't, I was wrong, I'm scared,' he admits, becoming a young boy once more.

And luckily for him Rick survives and the pair reconcile.

The men before the war: The sword wielding survivor had a life filled with mirth before the bad things began to happen

'You shouldn't have risked it going outside like that, its dangerous,' his father tells him: 'I know we will never get things back to the way they used to be, I only clung to that for you, for Judith and now she's gone and you - you are a man Carl, I'm sorry.'

Carl replies: 'You don't need to be.'

The pair hear a knock at the door and Rick peers outside to see Michonne standing on the step.